Tennessee Football: Five Vols to watch for against Missouri

6’2″  203 pounds; Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

When Brandon Johnson decided to redshirt the remaining games of his senior year, he did so with the knowledge that a better opportunity to contribute would be available the following season. Now, it is this season, and with two of last season’s leading receivers in Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway out of the picture, Johnson is ready to produce.

In Tennessee football’s Week 1 victory, Johnson trailed only Joshua Palmer in receiving, catching three passes for 73 yards including this ridiculous one-handed snag to convert on third down.

https://twitter.com/Vol_Football/status/1310315789405184003

While Johnson’s signal-caller Jarrett Guarantano didn’t play insufferably, he did miss No. 7 in orange on a couple of passes that seemed attainable. The hope is Guarantano will settle down this week and find Johnson when he has separation from Missouri’s defensive backs.

Last year at Missouri, Guarantano had the performance of his career, throwing for 415 yards and 2 TD’s in a 24-20 win on the road. That night, Palmer, Callaway, and Jennings each caught for over 100 yards.  With the latter two now playing in the NFL, expect Johnson to receive even more targets than he saw Week 1.

The anticipation going into this season was that Palmer would emerge as the Vols’ top receiver. Though we’re only through one week of Tennessee football, it’s looking like Palmer and Johnson could be a solid one-two punch to the midsection of SEC secondaries. Guarantano will certainly be looking to throw his way. This is Johnson’s week to prove he can carry the fight for 60 minutes.